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Xiaomi Redmi Pro News And Rumors

Xiaomi is starting the year with a loud bang aka the Redmi Note 5 Pro. The phone brings best in class performance and combines it with a reliable battery life and a really good camera. Priced at Rs. 13,999 for the 4GB and 64GB variant we have in our labs for review, the Redmi Note 5 Pro seems to be a brilliant value for money proposition. However, is it truly the best? There is only one way to find out, and that is to pit the phone against its competition. We are comparing the Redmi Note 5 Pro against the Xiaomi Mi A1, Honor 9iWhere to buy> 18899> 19999 and for kicks, we are throwing in the Moto X4Where to buy> 20999> 22999> 24999 in the mix as well. In addition, we are also comparing the phone against its newest sibling, the Redmi Note 5.

Build and Design

One of the slight inconveniences we had with the Redmi Note 4 was its width which Xiaomi has addressed by giving the Redmi Note 5 a taller 18:9 aspect ratio display. This has made it a bit easier to use but not a whole lot different. This means that the new Xiaomi is now more ergonomic and easier to use in one hand, but the taller stance is not new anymore putting the Note 5 Pro just at par with the competition. The new Note phones still don't get a full metal unibody design, which seems like an oversight from the company since the phone has specs which punch way above its price bracket.

Amongst the small selection of phones we have here, the Moto X4 with its glass back is the best-looking device of them all, and the Honor 9iWhere to buy> 18899> 19999 does feel quite premium as well. The Xiaomi Mi A1 also has an advantage over the Note 5 pro as it offers a metal unibody, but on the flipside, the Note 5 Pro with its plastic inserts is less susceptible to inferior call reception. All-in-all we think the Redmi Note 5 Pro is not the best looking device, even though the build quality is satisfactory. We are not going to talk much about the Redmi Note 5 since it pretty much keeps last year’s design intact but with a univisum display.

Display

On the display front, there is no denying the fact that the LTPS IPS LCD display used by the Moto X4Where to buy> 20999> 22999> 24999 is superior compared to others. That said, according to our tests, the next best display out of these phones is of the Honor 9iWhere to buy> 18899> 19999’s. Both of them offer a more accurate colour reproduction, which is succeeded by the slightly warmer display on the Xiaomi Redmi Note 5 Pro. Hence, this is definitely not the best display we have seen in recent times, but unless you have a trained eye, you won’t find that difference. The Xiaomi Redmi Note 5 and the Xiaomi Mi A1 come at fourth and fifth position respectively and look almost similar in terms of brightness and colour fidelity. All five phones have LCD panels and offer good viewing angles.

While the displays on these phones look vibrant individually and won’t affect your buying decision, the UI is a far more important aspect of a smartphone as it can literally make or break the user experience. We definitely like the stock interface provided by the Moto X4Where to buy> 20999> 22999> 24999 and the Mi A1, but that is just us, you might be a fan of MIUI or any other UI you may have used.

All phones in question here including the Redmi Note 5Where to buy> 9999> 11999> 11999 Pro provide a simple and easy to use user interface. Here Xiaomi’s MIUI and Honor’s EMUI look different but do a pretty good job of mixing an Android interface with added tweaks, animations and sprinkle it with added services and apps.

So, all-in-all the MIUI 9 we get on the Redmi Note 5Where to buy> 9999> 11999> 11999 Pro is good and particularly has more affinity towards better battery life. However, our biggest complaint with the phone is that it still comes with Android Nougat out of the box and Xiaomi has no near future plans to bring Android 8.0 to this device. This brings us to a bigger question, which is if Xiaomi can provide timely updates on the Mi A1Where to buy> 13999 which is on the Android One platform, why not all Xiaomi phones be offered on the platform or on a more stock like version. Afterall, for the customer that makes more sense and ease of use, right? Moto follows the same rule and has been offering timely OS updates to its customers and hence is well regarded for that.

Performance

At a chipset level, the phones are powered by four different SoCs. The Xiaomi Mi A1 and the Redmi Note 5 are using the popular Snapdragon 625 from Qualcomm. Then we have the Honor 9i which is powered by Huawei’s own Kirin 659 SoC. Motorola offers the Snapdragon 630 on the Moto X4Where to buy> 20999> 22999> 24999 and the Xiaomi Redmi Note 5 is the first phone in the world to be powered by the Qualcomm Snapdragon 636 SoC. Now, this new octa-core chip with its Kryo 260 CPU cores is a beast. Powered by this chip, the Redmi Note 5 Pro broke every performance record we had in the sub-15K price bracket. Coupled with 4GB LPDDRX RAM, the phone just zooms past any other device in its price category and even above. That snappy performance is reflected in synthetic benchmarks like AnTuTu. Qualcomm claims that the SD636 is almost 40% faster than its SD630. However, going by the Antutu scores we have, the difference is around 26%, which is not exactly as claimed but still a significant improvement.

Battery life

The best part is that the chip is made on a 14nm manufacturing process, hence it is quite power efficient and combined with MIUI’s battery optimizations, we get another phone from Xiaomi which goes on for two days without a charge. We have used the Redmi Note 5 Pro as a daily driver and it can outmatch the Mi A1, Honor 9iWhere to buy> 18899> 19999 and the Moto X4Where to buy> 20999> 22999> 24999 quite easily. It’s only competition is the Redmi Note 5, which as you can see falls considerably short in terms of performance. Heavy to medium users are looking at around 10 hours gaming time or about 12-14 hours video streaming time at best from this device. Normal and light users for whom making calls is a priority can easily use the device for more than a day without a charge.

Also, the phone does support Qualcomm fast charging technology. However, Xiaomi does not provide a fast charger in the box itself, which seems like an oversight on the company’s part.

Camera

Things get quite interesting in the camera department as Redmi Note 4 did not have a very good camera, but the Redmi Note 5 Pro turns out to be a big improvement over that. The images we took with the phone during the day in ample lighting conditions, look quite good. There are plenty of details and dynamic range is also quite good. However, the colour reproduction is not perfect as Xiaomi’s camera algorithm has a tendency of making things a slightly warmer in some conditions. That said, the images do look pleasing and unless you are purist for colour tones, you will be happy with the results. In comparison, the Moto X4Where to buy> 20999> 22999> 24999 and the Honor 9iWhere to buy> 18899> 19999 do a commendable job but ultimately lose because of inferior dynamic range and details. The Mi A1 does put up a good effort, but among this bunch comes dead last. Equipped with the latest 12MP rear shooter, even the Redmi Note 5 can match up to the Mi A1 in some conditions.

The Redmi Note 5Where to buy> 9999> 11999> 11999 Pro widens the gap with low light camera performance, which again offers better details and dynamic range. The colour reproduction is also better compared to any other phone we have in this comparison. There is some noise under very low light conditions, but Xiaomi’s new camera algorithm intelligently keeps to a minimum.

This image is by the Redmi Note 5Where to buy> 9999> 11999> 11999 Pro without HDR and it still looks good

The dual camera on the rear also allows the phone to take portrait shots and here the Redmi Note 5Where to buy> 9999> 11999> 11999 Pro takes the lead. The background separation is on par with some of the flagship calls devices available today. At the same time, the camera captures a good amount of details of the subject and the colour reproduction though not perfect is better than most.

Bottomline

The Xiaomi Redmi Note 5 Pro then is not the perfect phone when you go into technicalities. However, its performance, battery life, and camera quality set a new precedent of what a sub-15K smartphone can do or offer. Xiaomi has cut corners in build and design to get there, but the fact is it nails the three most important aspects of an affordable phone, which for most of us is more than enough. We hope Xiaomi brings Android 8.0 to the phone soon or maybe just maybe goes for an all stock Android approach with its upcoming devices.